During the discussion after the screening of “Grave of the Fireflies,” the question of whether the film would have been as heart wrenching, or more so, if it had been made in life action.The film actually was transferred to live action; however most of us had not seen that version.An argument was made that it would most likely be more relatable and intense if it had been live action, with actual human characters, because it would be easier to relate to them as other human beings in terms of their physical bodies.I had a different opinion of this question.I thought that the animation was more intense than it would have been in live action.Though I might change my mind if I were to see the live action version, I felt that the fact that it was animated, allowed for the character’s facial expression and movements to be extremely exaggerated, exaggerating the intensity of their feelings, fears, and appearances. The intensity of feeling and fear struck me especially in the character of the young girl.There was something about her intense and ever changing facial expressions that really left no room for interpretation; if she was upset, you knew it for sure.I think this is because of the detail in the drawing aspect of animation creation.Animating pays special attention to detail of each element within the individual drawing.Because it is not “live” or “real life” an animator needs to exaggerate the characteristics of the subject so that they are sure to get across.I think that that is what made this piece so powerful.The emotion felt, especially from the young girl, was inescapable.

Someone brought up in class the point that it made it easier to feel more for these characters because they weren’t actual humans playing them.It allowed us to remove our selves far enough away from reality that we actually could end up feeling more.I thought this was an interesting idea.Often times, in live action, what is being portrayed is too frightening to take in because you are seeing “real live” people take place in it, and so one may shut off connection to the characters out of fear.On the other hand, the animation takes us away from our fears of this happening to us because we are “live” so that we can enter more into the story.

Above is the link to the Anime Materpieces website. At the screenings of Grave of the Fireflies and Tekkonkinkreet, we received booklets describing the films from Anime Masterpieces. As Roland Kelts explained before the film last night, Anime Masterpieces was developed to help summarize popular films and graphic novels for Japanese Studies professors or those out of touch with the younger generation’s pop cultural obsession with Anime and Manga. Most students, Kelts noted, become involved in Japanese Studies because of their strong interest in Anime and Manga, however professors do not typically have a background in that field. Anime Masterpieces is an academic and intellectual approach to the films and graphic novels and their cultural phenomenon.

As in all subjects, Japanese Studies is also evolving to accommodate the growing interest in Anime and Manga and what it means for contemporary Japanese history. The new wave of students and academics drawn to careers in Japanese Studies will find a successful way to incorporate these movies into their courses. What does this also mean for the history of American graphic novels and comics? How will Art Departments incorporate this demand for creating Anime into their courses? Will there eventually be a blending of Eastern and Western drawing and narrative styles?

So I am not going to deny it…With it being the middle of the semester and midterms drowning me, I got on here feeling a little brain dead and not sure what to talk about. So I decided to do a little technology searching through technology. And Ta-Da! I found something. First I Yahoo! searched technology, but all I got were some intense articles. Then I searched cyborg, and while I was typing, a suggested search was Cyborg 009. And then when I searched cyborg, it asked if I meant Cyborg 009. So out of intense curiosity, I clicked on it. And this is where I found my intrigue. Not only was it based on a cyborg, but it was also an anime cartoon. Which fit in perfectly with our topic of the week. However, it also fits in with Patchwork Girl in a way that we were discussing in class today. You see, (and sorry for those who already know this), but Cyborg 009 was first created and aired in 1964.

However, this show has been reanimated and republished with the most recent version going through till 2002

Anyways, I thought it was an intersting transformation of technology and concept, especially that pertaining to cyborgs. I was thinking about the ‘death of a text’ when viewing this, and though I realize that this is not a text, there is something about it that could be dead. However, because it has been reanimated through the years, it has survived so the new generations could enjoy it!